Category Archives: Beer review

Beer review — Wig & Pen and Aguila

28 August 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Wig and Pen Smokey Olde Spice Ale $7 half pint
SOS starts as a strong (7.2 per cent alcohol) barrel-aged beer, made from beechwood-smoked barley malt. The brew percolates through a container of fresh truffles, figs, cinnamon and vanilla en route to the tap. It emerges lively, opulent, smokey, spicy, malty and fruity with a teasing, tart, tannic bite to the finish.

Aguila Beer of Columbia 330ml $7 on-premise
Carlton and United Breweries recently launched Columbian-brewed Aguila into the on-premise market. Brewed from malted barley, and rice and seasoned with perle and nugget hop varieties, it fits our two-star rating perfectly. It’s a good, basic, fault-free quaffer, at a modest four per cent alcohol.

Tap King a beauty, but why pay more for the same beer?

21 August 2013Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Sales of Lion’s Tap King home draught beer dispenser got off to a roaring start. But, in the long run, will beer drinkers continue paying a premium for draught versions of existing packaged products?

At Dan Murphys, for example, James Squire Golden Ale costs $7.97 a litre in Tap King 3.2 litre kegs – an eight per cent premium over the $7.37 a litre price of 345ml bottles.

The unit works well. In a recent test, a friend assembled the unit and poured the first beer within 90 seconds. We then compared draught and stubby versions, noting a better head and slightly fresher taste of the keg beer. Otherwise, the flavours were identical.

A former Vintage Cellars colleague believes Lion risks disaffection when users realise they’re paying more for the same beer. Lion missed the opportunity to hang their hat on a better product, he says.

James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 345ml 6-pack $18.99
We recently compared Squire Gold Ale from stubby and the new 3.2 litre Tap King keg version. They’re identical beers, but the keg version held a better head and tasted slightly fresher. Amarillo hops adds apricot-like notes to the aroma and flavour of a lively beer designed for easy drinking.

Beer review — Lobethal and Sierra Nevada

14 August 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Lobethal Bohemian Pilsener 330ml $4.99
Brewer Alistair Turnbull offers his beers in bottle. But it’s nowhere fresher than on tap at the brewery in the village of Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills. There we savoured a stunningly fresh, full-bodied, assertively bitter expression of the classic, golden Bohemian style.

Sierra Nevada Hoptimum Whole-cone Imperial IPA 355ml $7.70
Hoptimum pole-vaults to the hoppiest of hoppy heights, measuring 100 on the international bitterness scale – roughly five times as much as the typical Australian lager. Opulent, sweet malt and a heady 10.4 per cent alcohol distract momentarily from the hops. But nothing can stop the resiny, bitter, citrusy hops deluge. It’s love or hate.

Beer review — Stone and Wood, Samuel Adams

19 June 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Stone and Wood Limited Release Stone Beer 500ml $10
This annual brew goes a tad darker and fruitier this year, with the addition of chocolate wheat malt and Enigma hops to an already extensive ingredient list. It’s a luxurious, 7.2 per cent dark ale – spritely and fresh on the palate but seriously, smoothly, chocolate-like with a fruity lift and tangy finish.

Samuel Adams Noble Pils 355ml $6.65
“Noble” refers to the aristocratic hop strains used in the brew: Hallertau Mittelfrueh, Tettnang Tettnanger, Spalt Spalter, Saaz and Hersbrucker. Refreshingly for a hop-focused beer, gentle, herbal, fruity, spicy hops character subtly adorn the equally subtle honey character of the malt (Bohemian spring barley). It’s a lovely American take on the Czech Pilzen style.

Beer review — Monteith’s

29 May 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Monteith’s Autumn Amber Ale 330ml $2.75
Monteith’s offers the warmth and subtle, coffee-like flavours of roast barley malt, with the special fruity lift of ale and attractive hops. Green bullet hops provide the bitterness that offsets the malt sweetness. And Motueka hops, added late in the brewing process, give the aromatic lift.

Chuck revives Hahn Premium

29 May 2013Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

In 1988 Chuck Hahn carted from Sydney a keg from his first batch of Hahn Premium Lager for tasting at Farmer Brothers Belconnen. People loved the brew and it went on to become a favourite in Australia’s rapidly expanding premium beer market.

Tooheys, now part of Lion, bought the brand and expanded production. Over time the beer became just another so-called premium, lacking the bitterness or character of the original.

Then a week or two back Chuck Hahn phoned saying he’d been disappointed with the beer, especially in its use of old hops. He intervened late last year, bringing the recipe back to 100 per cent malt (it’d slipped to 80 per cent) and reintroducing fresh German Hersbrucker hops. The hops, especially the late addition, give the beer its vibrant, spicy aroma, says Hahn.

I hosted Hahn for that first tasting in Canberra and welcome its return to form.

Hahn Premium Australian Pilsener 330ml 6-pack $16
You’ll notice Hahn Premium recently changed from “Lager” to “Australian Pilsener”, reflecting a significant tweak to the quality. It’s in the European pilsner style, pale golden in colour with attractive spicy hops aroma and a gentle, fresh, lightly malty palate seasoned with spicy hops flavour – though not particularly bitter.

Beer review — Cooper’s and James Squire

22 May 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Cooper’s Pale Ale 375ml 6-pack $16
The wholemeal appeal of Cooper’s cloudy, bottle-conditioned ales spread from mung-bean-eating hippies into the mainstream some years back. So much so that the company now sells more beer in NSW than at home in South Australia, says Glen Cooper. Little wonder, we say, savouring a cold one in the Mount Kembla village pub near Wollongong.

James Squire Stow Away IPA 345ml 6-pack $19
The original India pale ales packed a power of alcohol, malt and hops to survive the pre-refrigeration-era journey from England to India. James Squire’s burly-but-balanced version of the brew uses rampant apricot-like hops aromas and flavours — and attendant intense bitterness — to shackle opulent malt and warm, sweet alcohol flavours.

Beer review — Matilda Bay and Bridge Road

24 April 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Matilda Bay Beez Neez Honey Wheat Beer 345ml 6-pack $20
If there’s a bee’s knees of Aussie honey wheat beers, this is it. It’s a highly polished brew with the lightness and zesty freshness of wheat beer filled out and softened ever-so-subtly on the mid palate by the honey. It seems the honey adds a structural element rather than overt flavour.

Bridge Road Brewers Beechworth Chestnut Pilsner 330ml $4.65
Brewer Ben Kraus added locally grown chestnuts to the mash, adding another dimension to this very attractive, medium-bodied, light-golden pilsner. Galaxy hopes from the Ovens Valley add their own appealing fragrance and gentle, spicy bitterness. This is an exceptionally polished, harmonious beer without a rough edge anywhere.

Beer review — Viking and Fullers

17 April 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Viking 330ml 6-pack $18.99
The latest starter in Australia’s exploding, so-called “premium” beer market uses “glacial water from Iceland”, declares the press release. And the brewers seem to have taken great care not to overwhelm the pristine water with hops and malt flavour – nor with body as it’s a modest 4.4 per cent alcohol.

Fullers Golden Pride Superior Strength Ale 500ml $8.40
Fuller’s luxurious ale carries its 8.5 per cent alcohol with grace and style. High alcohol tends to dominate beer flavour, but here it’s absorbed by the plush maltiness (pale-ale and crystal malts) and balanced by richly flavoured, bitter northdown, challenger and harvest hop varieties. It’s a sumptuous ale to savour with food.

Beer review — Young’s and Gage Roads

10 April 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Young’s Luxury Double Malt Chocolate Stout 500ml $5.90
There’s chocolate in the brew and it shows up as a dry, bitter note in the finish – like strong high-cocoa chocolate. But more than anything it’s a full-bore stout featuring rich, roasted malt flavour, all-round opulence, smooth texture and assertive hops bitterness. A small glass on a cold night would be perfect.

Gage Roads Abstinence Belgian Dubbel Chocolate Ale 640ml $7.90
Western Australia’s Gage Roads, partly owned by Woolworths, made this Belgian style ale using Belgian yeast strains and Gabriel chocolate from Margaret River. Delicious chocolate flavour, tinged with hops, permeates the lively 7.4 per cent alcohol palate. Alas, the ale lost its head almost instantly.